Belt-shifting device.



PATENTED AUG. 16, 1904.

J. WEIGHHART. BELT SHIP'I'ING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

Witnesses:

Patented August 16, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

JOHN VVEICHHART, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

BELT-SHIFTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,616, dated August 16, 1904,

Application filed February 28, 1904:. Serial No. 194,796. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN W'EIOHHART, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the countyoof San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Belt-Shifting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in belt-shifting apparatus.

It consists of the parts and the construction and combination of, parts, as hereinafter more fully described, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a view at right angles to that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in partial section, showing hanger for the belt-carrier. Fig. A is a diagrammatic view showing abelt when in position on the drivepulley and when at rest on the carrier.

A represents a drive-shaft run constantly from any suitable source of power; 2, a fast pulley thereon whence motion is transmitted by belt 3 to a pulley4 on counter-shaft 5; 6, an idle pulley or carrier in juxtaposition and coaxial with pulley 2 and supported on the stationary sleeve 7. The latter surrounds but is out of contact with shaft A and is supported in the hanger-arm 8. The carrier 6 is held against lateral movement by the flanges or rings 7 on the sleeve.

A lever 9, fulcrumed on sleeve 7 and reciprocal by means of cord 10 from any convenient point, carries a forked reversible pawl 11, which is arranged to engage a ratchet 12 on carrier 6 to rotate the latter. The limit of movement of lever 9 and the positioning 7 of pawl 11 are such that when the lever is down, as shown in full lines, Fig. 1, the pawl will fall outward by gravity against a stop 13 to permit the carrier to revolve without check This pawland-.

ameter than the drivepulley 2, but is preferably in the form of a truncated cone, with the diameter of that side adjacent to pulley 2 a little greater than that of the side farthest from the pulley. This outward taper of the periphery of the carrier is very slight and is such that that portion of the carrier which happens to be engaged by the belt will lie approximately in the are described by the belt as it is turned on pulley 4 as a pivot in shifting it from pulley 2 onto the carrier, or vice versa, as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. A. The object of reducing the diameter of pulley 6 in the first place is to compensate for throwing the belt out of line and not stretch it, as would happen if both pulleys 6 and 2 were of the same size, while by sloping the face of the carrier-pulley 6 both edges of the belt are more equally sustained than were the pulley-face straight. hen the belt is shifted from the drivepulley 2 onto the carrier, the latter makes but a few revolutions and comes to a standstill as soon as the momentum of the belt is exhausted. As the belt stands out of line when resting on the carrier, its-tendency is to creep back onto the drive-pulley whenever a rotative movement is given the carrier in the same direction with the drivepulley. The carrier-pulley is motionless except for an instant when the belt is moving onto or off of it. The belt is dead until the belt stops.

constructed that it may be adjusted to shift a belt running in either direction or at any angle. If the belt runs onto the drive-pulley from the bottom, the shifting mechanism may be attached to the bottom of the hanger. If the belt comes onto the top of the driven pulley, the shifting mechanism may be attached above. As illustrated it is adapted to shift a belt approaching the drive-pulley from the bottom. Accordingly I employ two vertical angles 14, bolted to the hanger, to afford a suitable support for the shifting mechanism, which latter includes a bar 15, clamped to the angles at any desired inclination by means of the clips 16. This bar 15 carries an adjustable box 17 at one end in which the shifting rod or arm 18 is reciprocal at right angles to bar 15 and transverse to the belt. The inside of box 17 and the sliding surface of arm 18 are made polygonal to prevent the latter from turning. The box is adjustable back and forth on bar 15 by means of a set-screw 19. One end of the box is'rounded and carries a bracket 20, in which are journaled two rollers 21, which serve as guides for the ropes 22 23, by which the shifting rod 18 is reciprocated. This bracket is likewise adjustable to any desired angle. The shifting rod is provided with two collars 2 1, adjustable according to the width of the belt and at any angle. These collars limit the length of stroke of the rod and at the same time serve as points of attachment for the ropes 22 23. An end of rod 18 is rounded and grooved and carries an adjustable bracket 25, in which is a roller 26, arranged to lie in the same plane with the belt and to engage the edge of the belt farthest from the carrierpulley 6. Rope 22 carries a weight 27, by which the shifting rod is normally projected across the belt away from the carrier-pulley and clear of the belt. The other rope, 23, leads to any convenient point from whence the power to pulley 1 is to be controlled.

To throw off the power from pulley 4:, the operator pulls on rope 23, which causes roller 26 to engage the belt and shift it from pulley 2 to the carrier 6. The tension on rope 23 is maintained until the belt loses its momentum and stops. The operator then releases rope 23, and the counterbalance 27 acts to reciprocate the shifting rod and roller out of interference with the belt and allow the latter to be transferred from the carrier to the drivepulley.

When the belt runs onto the carrier from the top, the bar 15, with its attachments, may be secured direct to the hanger-standards 8. Thus in any case no support separate from the carrier-hanger is required for the shifting mechanism.

The several adjustable parts of the shifting mechanism renders it adaptable to any belt, whether running horizontal, vertical, and at any angle or whether disposed overhead or beneath the floor. I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a belt-shifting mechanism the combination with adjacent coaxial fast and loose pulleys, of means for revolving the latter to shift the belt from one pulley to the other, said means including an oscillating arm fulcrumed coaxially with said pulleys, a double pawl pivoted on said arm, and an annular ratchet on the loose pulley and engaged by the pawl said pawl adapted to operatively engage the ratchet whether the arm is at the front or rear of the pulley, and means for operating the arm.

2. The combination of a fast pulley, a loose carrier-pulley adjacent to and coaxial with the fast pulley, an oscillating arm fulcrumed on the axis of the pulleys, said loose pulley having a ratchet, and a reversible Y-shaped pawl pivoted on the arm and having its forks adapted to operatively engage the ratchet whether the arm is at one side or the other of the pulley and thereby rotate the loose pulley in one direction or the other and means for operating the arm.

3. 1n belt-shifting mechanism, the combination with a fast pulley of an adjacent coaxial loose carrier-pulley, an oscillating arm fulcrumed coaxially with said pulleys, a double pawl pivoted on said arm, an annular ratchet on said loose pulley having interdental spaces with substantially parallel walls whereby said pawl and ratchet may coact to rotate the loose pulley in either direction whether the arm is at front or rear of said pulley, and means for positively operating said arm in one direction.

4. In a belt-shifter, the combination with fast and loose pulleys, of means for shifting a belt from one to the other, said means comprising a supporting-hanger and a bar fixed thereto, a box adjustably mounted on the end of said bar, a shifting bar arranged substantially at right angles to the first-named bar and passing through said box so that its ends project oppositely therefrom, pulleys supported by the box, adjustably-mounted collars on the second-named bar for limiting the stroke of the bar, and ropes passing around the last-named pulleys and having their ends attached to said collars.

5. In a belt-shifter, the combination with fast and loose pulleys, of belt-shifting means comprising a support and a bar fixed thereto, a box adjustably mounted on the end of said bar said box provided with a bracket, guidepulleys journaled in the bracket, a bar disposed at right angles to the first-named bar and passing through said hanger, collars adjustably fixed to opposite ends of the secondnamed bar, a bracket adjustably fixed to the end of said second bar, and provided with a In testimony whereof I have hereunto set roller, and ropes passing around the guidemy hand in presence of tWo subscribing Witpulleys and connected to said collars one of nesses.

said ropes provided with a weight whereby JOHN WEICHHART. the shifting rod is normally projected across Witnesses:

the belt away from the loose pulley and clear HENRY P. TRIooU,

of the belt.

S. 'H. NOURSE. 

